On Atiku/Obi Ndigbo Stands-Igbo Groups

February 11th, 2019

With less than a week to the 2019 Presidential election, Igbo leaders drawn from the 19 Northern States of the country and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have reaffirmed their “nonnegotiable” support for the candidature of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Mr Peter Obi.

The groups, comprising about 40 leaders of the Igbo Delegates Assembly (IDA), leaders of Ohanaeze, Presidents General of the seven Igbo speaking States in the FCT, leading Igbos from the business sector, other Professionals, the Academia, Civil society, women and youth organizations, met at the weekend in Abuja, stated that “a vote for ATIKU-OBI is a guarantee for the unity survival and progress of Nigeria and the future generation.”

The groups therefore called on all Igbos, both at home and in diaspora, “to disregard and ignore the nefarious activities of a few disgruntled persons who have been paid by desperate politicians to sabotage Igbo interests and make it look as if Igbos are not united in this cause.”

In their communique signed by over forty leaders of the various Igbo Associations in Northern Nigerian and made available to the media by Austin Ihedinezi the Secretary General of the Igbo Delegates Assembly (IDA) the leaders of the various Igbo Associations in the North stated that after extensive interactions and deliberations,” they “affirmed their support for the Chief Nnia Nwodo led Ohanaeze Ndigbo and its endorsement of the ATIKU-OBI ticket as the Presidential ticket of choice for Ndigbo. The meeting joins Ohanaeze Ndigbo in endorsing the ATIKU-OBI ticket and urges all Igbo Sons and Daughters, home and abroad to vote massively for this choice on 16th February 2019.

According to the Communique “The meeting reviewed extensively the current state of the Nigerian politics with particular attention to the upcoming election beginning with the Presidential and National Assembly elections and the stand of Ndigbo on it, on the basis of the extensive interactions and deliberations they resolved as follows;

“The stakeholders affirmed their support of the Chief Nnia Nwodo led Ohanaeze and it endorsement of the ATIKU-OBI ticket as the Presidential choice for Ndigbo. The meetings joins Ohanaeze Ndigbo in endorsing the Atiku-Obi ticket and urges all Igbo sons and daughters, home and abroad to vote massively for this choice on 16th of February 2019.

“The meeting noted that the endorsement of the Atiku-Obi ticket is because of their clear vision on restructuring and the strategy to make Nigeria work again, a move that has been welcomed and embraced by all ethnic nationalities across the country.

The meeting further stated that a vote for Atiku-Obi will bring Ndigbo into the mainstream of Nigerian politics adding that “the meeting is convinced that the presidential campaign train of Atiku-Obi has garnered tremendous support across the length and breadth of Nigeria to actualize their mandate noting that “it is believed that voting Atiku-Obi is a guarantee for the unity, survival and progress of Nigeria and the future generation.

The groups further called on all Igbo’s at home and the diaspora to disregard and ignore what it termed the nefarious activities of a few disgruntled persons who it said have been paid by desperate politicians to sabotage Igbo interests and make it look as if Igbo’s are not united.